While previous research has examined the effect of income on happiness, we suggest that how people spend their money may be as important for their well-being as how much they earn. Specifically, we hypothesized that spending money on others may have a more positive impact on well-being than spending money on oneself. We found converging evidence for this hypothesis in a nationally representative survey (Study 1), a longitudinal study of windfall spending (Study 2), and an experimental study in which participants were randomly assigned to spend money on themselves or others (Study 3). We also found that people believe that spending on themselves, as opposed to others, will make them happier (Study 4) and that happier people were more likely to spend on others and experience higher happiness as result (Study 5). These results demonstrate that spending money on others may facilitate the translation of wealth into well-being. / Arts, Faculty of / Psychology, Department of / Graduate

This study concerns itself with executive share option plans that have earnings per share targets and examines whether the existence of such vesting criteria results in opportunistic behaviour by managers or represents efficient contracting. Accounting choices by management are studied to see whether earnings per share targets in various executive remuneration components are associated with (1) the disclosure of alternative earnings per share, (2) earnings management defined as abnormal working capital accruals and (3) earnings management defined as meeting or beating analysts' forecasts. To begin with, the current study tests for an association between the disclosure of alternative earnings per share figures and earnings per share performance criteria in executive share options. Following Healy (1985) it is argued that situations might exist where executives are aware they will not meet the target or will overshoot the target giving rise to incentives to manage earnings downwards. There are also situations where executives expect to miss the target but have incentives (and scope) to manage earnings upwards. The study then proceeds to measure earnings management using a modified Jones (1991) model. A proxy for target growth in earnings per share is developed. The third and final section of the current study considers meeting or beating analysts' forecasts as the earnings management metric. Prior research provides evidence that meeting or beating analysts' forecasts is rewarded by the stock market and as the payout from executive share options is linked to share price, executives have incentives to meet or beat analysts' forecasts.Regression analysis, in the form of either logit or ordinary least squares is employed in all three sections of this study. The results suggest that earnings management is associated with earnings per share vesting targets in executive share option plans. Moreover, the findings as a whole suggest that the introduction of earnings per share targets as a vesting criterion in executive share options resulted in opportunistic behaviour by management.This thesis adopts an agency theory framework and contributes to the literature on corporate governance and executive remuneration by identifying a specific contractual setting where management is especially sensitive to reported earnings numbers. This particular setting is novel. Additionally, the research design facilitated the testing of whether or not executive share options with an earnings per share growth target result in opportunistic behaviour on the part of managers or represent efficient contracting.

Though some research exists related to career choices among Appalachian youth, and literature exists which broadly examines choices to pursue engineering degrees, information specifically related to Appalachian students' career choice toward engineering is limited. Engineering typically represents high paying, stable jobs so it is particularly important to understand what attracts students to, or deters them from, engineering careers in the Appalachian region, which is beset by poverty and low representation in higher education. The purpose of this research was to explore what influences students from the Central Appalachian region of Virginia in choosing their career goals, in particular, relative to engineering careers. Therefore, the overarching research question was: How are Central Appalachian high school students influenced as they choose their career goals, especially with respect to engineering? In this qualitative study, I used semi-structured interviews and case study methods, guided by Lent and Brown's Social Cognitive Career Theory, to explore career choice goals of high school participants in Southwest Virginia. The twenty-four high school participants and twelve college engineering student participants represented a diverse sample with respect to school and county demographics. Through thematic coding, the data revealed patterns relative to 1) reasons students chose their career goals, and 2) variation in factors contributing to career goals. Specifically, I identified six high school categories of reasons and only three reasons for college engineering students. High school students' career choice reasons, while related to interests, were largely influenced by critical life events. Additionally, patterns emerged based on whether or not the student was a continuing generation Appalachian (CGA), parent/guardian educational attainment and place of employment, and the location of the high school relative to college resources. This is consistent with previous literature, which points to the importance of parental education and student interests as factors for determining a student's career choice, and STEM literature, which often links interests in math, science, or engineering activities as key influencers. However, this research also revealed that critical life events, a student's family background (First Generation College and CGA), and parental job location are patterned with career goals. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to examine and compare some of the personality characteristics of junior high school students as they related to the students' later vocational choices. More specifically selected personality characteristics observed in girls who later made typical or atypical vocational selection were compared. Both typical and atypical girls were also compared to boys on these selected personality characteristics. Te s t s used in this study to measure cognitive need and flexibility "ere Anderson Self-Reporting Need Achievement Questionnaire, Berlak School Work Habit Questionnaire and Resnick Self- Reporting Need Cognition Questionnaire. Tests used to measure social attitudes and ideology were "Have"--"Have not" Questionnaire, Submissiveness Test, F-Scale, and Humanitarian Concern. Comprehensive Personality Inventories used in this study were Guilford-Zimmerman Temperament Survey and Cattell's High School Personality Questionnaire. Scores from the Differential Aptitude Test were also used. Using the above measures, it was found that the girls defined by this study as atypical have some personality characteristics similar to those of boys and dissimilar to those of girls defined by this study as typical. The atypical girls of this study also have some personality characteristics different from both boys and typical girl s . But as a whole and contrary to the stereo typed career - oriented girl , the atypical girls of this study have more personality characteristics in common with other girls than with boys.

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Mean daily nutrient intake was calculated for 64 obstetrical patients from three-day selective menus. Judged by the standard of the 1974 Recommended Dietary Allowances, the mean intake of 27 lactating subjects was adequate in energy and all nutrients; the intake of 37 non-lactating subjects met the allowance for all nutrients with the exception of iron. Mean intake of these subjects was higher than similar groups in national surveys for all nutrients with the exception of thiamin. Higher nutrient density was in ratio to higher caloric intake. Relationship of nutrient intake to age education of subjects, and occupation of household head was investigated. Nutrient intake below the allowance was observed at all age and educational levels and in all occupational classifications . Nutrient intake was positively associated with lower age groups (15-22 years) and higher educational levels. Association with occupation was not as positive. Percentage of calories in the diet from protein sources was similar to the average North American diet. Distribution of calories from carbohydrates was similar to the average United States dietary pattern, and from fat was slightly lower. / Master of Science

The workforce in society today has rapidly growing fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). Females are largely underrepresented in these fields in colleges and also careers. Previous research cites multiple reasons that could cause this disparity between the genders, and this study adds to that. Females in their developmental years are equal to or outperform males in STEM fields in school, and the number of females who are beginning to choose these areas in college is on the rise. This study sought to determine if females choose colleges and careers based on their family’s emotional or financial influence. Utilizing data from the United States Department of Education National Center for Education Statistics’ (NCES) High School Longitudinal Study of 2009 with a follow-up study in 2012, answers to the research questions were sought. Analysis using t-tests determined that while a family’s financial situation does have an effect on college choice, females are supported by their families as they choose math and science fields of study. Future research could seek to determine more specifically why females continue to choose careers in fields of education and healthcare to provide community colleges better information to help direct females into the expanding fields of STEM.

Human behaviour can be explained not only through experience and environments but also by incorporating evolutionary explanation. Consumer behaviour could not be understood accurately without infusing Darwinian evolutionary theory which has contributed in the knowledge of human nature. Evolutionary psychology revolves around the human's evolved mental and the impact on human's traits and behaviour where the influence of the environment to our genes would determine our individual behaviour and traits, resulting in variation among us. Foraging which is a part of behavioural ecology involves many sequences or repetitions of animals' activities and decision making which is useful to relate these patterns of activities to the decisions made in human consumption. The aim of this research is to investigate the similarities of human consumption and ecological behaviour by employing interpretative and comparative approach. It is hoped that by applying the evolutionary theory in explaining consumer choice, this study is able to contribute to the development of behavioural ecology in human consumption.

For the last couple of decades consumer decision-making has been of increasing interest for retail as well as for consumer behaviour research. Food shopping constitutes a unique type of shopping behaviour. In comparison to other types of shopping, food is essential to life, and not often are there as many choices to be made in a short period of time as when shopping groceries. The purpose of this dissertation was to advance the knowledge of what influences consumers’ choices of grocery stores. More specifically, the main focus has been on how different situations (e.g., type of shopping) influence choices of grocery stores. Five papers, which build on three surveys on how consumers choose grocery stores in Sweden, are included in this dissertation. In the first paper a comprehensive set of ten aggregated attributes that determine store choices were developed. The second paper brought forward five consumer segments (Planning Suburbans, Social Shoppers, Pedestrians, City Dwellers, and Flexibles) based on where and how they shop. In the third paper it was shown that accessibility attributes (e.g., accessibility by car, availability) and attractiveness attributes (e.g., price, service) have different impacts on satisfaction, depending on consumer characteristics and shopping behaviour in supermarkets compared to convenience stores. In the fourth paper the result showed that satisfaction is affected by type of grocery shopping (major versus fill-in shopping) in conjunction with time pressure and which store attributes that are important for satisfaction. It was also shown that the effect of time pressure and type of shopping on satisfaction varied in different consumer segments. In the final paper it was shown that a store has to be more attractive in terms of attributes for a consumer to switch from the grocery store they usually patronage, even if the new store is situated right beside or closer than the consumer’s regular grocery store. The view of a “good location” is further developed in this dissertation, arguing that consumers’ mental distance to a store – their cognitive proximity – is much more important than the physical place of the store. In sum, this dissertation revealed that the situation is more important than previous research has shown. Depending on the situation, consumers will face different outcomes (different stores) and value different store attributes. Hence, stores need to manage different store attributes depending on which consumer groups the stores want to attract and what situation the consumers are facing. Therefore, consumers’ choices of grocery stores are situation-based choices. / I ett par decennier har intresset för konsumenters beslutsfattande ökat för både detaljhandeln och forskningen kring konsumentbeteende. Matinköp utgör en unik typ av köp-beteende då det i jämförelse med andra typer av handlande är livsnödvändiga samt att det sällan finns så många val som ska göras under kort tid som vid matinköp. Syftet med denna avhandling är att främja kunskap om vad som påverkar konsumenternas val av livsmedelsbutik. Mer specifikt har fokus varit på hur olika situationer (t.ex. typ av handlande) påverkar valet av butik. Fem artiklar, som bygger på tre olika undersökningar om hur konsumenter väljer livsmedelsbutiker i Sverige ingår i denna avhandling. I den första artikeln utvecklades en omfattande uppsättning av tio aggregerade attribut (baserade på 34 attribut) som bestämmer konsumenters val av livsmedelsbutiker. I den andra artikeln presenterades fem konsumentsegment (Planerande förortsbor, Sociala shoppare, Fotgängare, Stadsbor och Flexibla) som baserades på var och hur de handlar. Den tredje artikeln visade att tillgänglighetsattribut (t.ex. tillgängligheten med bil och öppettider) och attraktivitetsattribut (t.ex. pris och service) har olika effekter på konsumenters nöjdhet. Denna nöjdhet varierade även beroende på konsumentens bakgrundsfaktorer samt huruvida konsumenten handlade i stormarknader eller i närbutiker. I den fjärde artikeln visade resultaten att nöjdhet påverkas av typ av matinköp (storhandlande kontra kompletteringshandlande) i samband med tidspress och de attribut som är viktiga för konsumenternas nöjdhet med butiken. Det visade sig även att effekterna av tidspress och typ av handlande på konsumenternas nöjdhet med butiker varierade i olika konsumentgrupper. Det femte konferenspapperet visade att en butik måste vara mer attraktiv när det gäller attribut för att konsumenter skall byta från den livsmedelsbutik som de brukar handla i, även om den nya butiken skulle öppna precis bredvid eller närmre än den vanliga livsmedelsbutiken. Synen på vad som är ett ”bra läge” utvecklas därför ytterligare i denna avhandling, med argumentet att konsumenternas mentala avstånd till en butik - deras kognitiva närhet - är mycket viktigare än den fysiska platsen för butiken. Sammanfattningsvis visade denna avhandling att effekten av olika situationer är viktigare än vad tidigare forskning har visat. Beroende på situation kommer konsumenter att möta olika utfall (välja olika butiker) och de kommer även att värdera olika butikers attribut olika. Således behöver butiken hantera olika butiksattribut beroende på vilken konsumentgrupp butiken vill attrahera och vilken situation de konsumenterna står inför. Därför kan val av livsmedelsbutiker ses som situationsbaserade val.